Christa Pike remains alive in critical condition after failed execution, attorneys say
Officials paused all executions after Christa Pike survived two lethal injection doses, and her lawyers said she remained in critical condition.
- On Wednesday, September 30, 2026, officials at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution attempted to execute Christa Pike, but the 50-year-old inmate survived two doses of pentobarbital and was transported to a hospital.
- This botched procedure marks Tennessee's second failed execution this year, following an unsuccessful attempt in May to execute Tony Carruthers; both cases involved Dr. Mark Fowler, raising systemic concerns about the state's protocol.
- Pike's attorneys, who warned officials of her "small compromised veins," alleged the procedure constituted "chemical torture" after executioners used at least seven needles; she remained awake, snoring and complaining her arm felt "about to explode."
- Tennessee Governor Bill Lee halted all remaining 2026 executions on Thursday, calling the event "deeply disturbing" and ordering a comprehensive third-party investigation, indefinitely postponing Pike's execution and Gary Wayne Sutton's December 3 scheduled execution.
- United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk urged Tennessee to abandon capital punishment, stating Pike's survival demonstrates "abhorrent" suffering; the case reignites international debate over the death penalty and calls for sentence commutation.
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760 Articles
Witnessing the Failed Execution of Christa Pike: 'We Could All Hear Her Breathing'
On Sept. 30, I was one of the seven media witnesses who observed Tennessee fail to execute convicted murderer Christa Pike, the first woman to face the death penalty in the state in almost 200 years. From our previous reporting, each of us had an inkling that the lethal injection process might not go according to plan. Pike’s attorneys had asked the Tennessee Supreme Court to allow her to be hanged instead, citing concerns that a platelet disord…
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Also, Christa Pike is reportedly in critical condition after being injected twice with a lethal drug by executioners in Tennessee.
Tennessee halts executions after death row inmate survives lethal injection attempt
After Tennessee officials failed in their Sept. 30 attempt to execute death row inmate Christa Gail Pike for a 1995 murder, the state's Gov. Bill Lee halted the one remaining execution for the rest of the year pending an investigation. But some Catholic opponents of the death penalty said that the incident demonstrates the flaws with capital punishment.
On Wednesday, 30 September, in the U.S. state of Tennessee, she was scheduled to be executed by 50-year-old Christa Pike, who was convicted in 1995 of the murder of Colleen Slemmer, who she had committed with her boyfriend, Tadaril Shippe, who failed in attempting to execute: Pike survived two fatal injections; the Governor of the state, Bill Lee, ordered the postponement of all executions in the state until 2027; the convicted person was in cri…
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